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- Suzuki and Pacquiao are scheduled to face off in a three-round exhibition bout at Super Rizin 3 on July 28.
- Suzuki, who holds multiple kickboxing and mixed martial arts titles, will put his boxing skills to the test against Pacquiao.
- Pacquiao is looking to get another world title shot, possibly facing Mario Barrios in the fall in Las Vegas.
Manny Pacquiao is one of the great legends of boxing. With a professional record of 62 wins, 8 losses and 2 draws, the Filipino boxer has made a seamless transition to exhibition bouts.
After exhibition matches against Korean celebrities, champions from eight different weight classes will face off against Japanese superstar striker Chihiro Suzuki.
The two are scheduled to compete in a three-round bout at Super RIZIN 3 on July 28. For Pacquiao, who hangs up his gloves in 2021, this could be the starting point for his final shot at a world title.
Currently, he is one of the top 10 boxers in the sport.
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Manny Pacquiao to fight two-sport athlete
Chihiro Suzuki holds titles in both kickboxing and mixed martial arts.
- Suzuki competes for the RIZIN and KnockOut promotions.
- Holds the RIZIN featherweight and KNOCK OUT Black super lightweight titles.
- The Japanese fighter is also scheduled to take part in an exhibition boxing bout against Takanori Gomi.
At a press conference in Tokyo on June 10, 2024, it was announced that Manny Pacquiao and Chihiro Suzuki had signed a contract to compete in a three-round exhibition bout scheduled for July 28 at Saitama Super Arena.
This came as a surprise to many, as RIZIN had initially aimed to stage a rematch between Pacquiao and Mayweather as an exhibition bout, but Pacquiao responded that he wasn't interested in the idea since the American would choose his opponents, which led to the aforementioned bout.
Chihiro Suzuki is a mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He began his fighting career with Pancrase in 2017. He won the 24th Pancrase Neoblood Flyweight Tournament. He then competed in RIZIN, where he fought for the Featherweight Championship twice. Suzuki eventually won the belt at RIZIN Landmark 7 by defeating Vugar Kharamov, and defended it against Masanori Kanehara at RIZIN 46.
As for kickboxing, he began competing in 2019 and has since switched between kickboxing and MMA. He has a 12-1 record and won the inaugural KNOCK OUT Black Super Lightweight Title, with 10 of his 12 wins coming by knockout.
Most importantly, Suzuki will test his boxing prowess in an exhibition bout against Japanese boxer Takanori Gomi, which will take place on June 23 at Knockout Carnival 2024. Gomi himself has limited boxing experience, having previously faced Koji and Tenshin Nasukawa in exhibition bouts. The bout will be Suzuki's warm-up for his upcoming showdown with Pacquiao.
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Pac-Man takes on Filipino and Korean fighters
- One bout took place after Pacquiao retired from professional boxing.
- Jesus Salud is Pacquiao's countryman and a former WBA bantamweight champion.
- DK Yoo is a YouTube celebrity.
On August 20, 2002, in Honolulu, Pacquiao fought former WBA super bantamweight champion Jesus Salud in an exhibition bout on the undercard of the Jerry Peñalosa vs. Seiji Tanaka fight. Pacquiao won the three-round exhibition bout against Salud.
On December 11, 2022, Pacman faced off against South Korean martial artist DK Yu. Interestingly, Yu is a martial arts instructor who previously fought retired British mixed martial artist Bradley Scott in another exhibition bout.
The Pacquiao-Yu bout was six two-minute rounds instead of the usual four three-minute rounds. No weight limit was agreed upon for the two fighters, putting Pacquiao at a weight disadvantage. At the weigh-in on December 10, Pacquiao weighed in at 161 pounds and Yu at 174 pounds. Pacquiao won by unanimous decision, but because it was an exhibition fight, it will not count towards his professional record.
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Manny Pacquiao eyes another world title shot
He wants to fight for the WBC welterweight title
- He is scheduled to face Mario Barrios.
- It could be held in Las Vegas in the fall.
- This will be Pacman's first professional boxing bout since 2021.
In his final professional boxing bout, Pacquiao lost to Yordenis Ugas for the WBA (super) welterweight title.
In a post-fight interview, Pacquiao addressed speculation about his possible retirement from boxing. He said he had not yet made up his mind and that he was also considering running for the Philippine presidency. On August 25, Pacquiao suggested he would consider a rematch with Ugas in January 2022.
On September 19, 2021, Pacquiao announced his candidacy for the 2022 Philippine presidential election. In an interview the following day, he hinted at his retirement from boxing.
On September 29, 2021, Pacquiao officially announced his retirement from boxing in a social media post.
Barrios has a 29-2 record and won the interim WBC welterweight title with a decision victory over Ugas in September.
If Pacquiao still has the drive, the fight with Suzuki will be a test for him, and if all goes well, it will build interest and anticipation for a fight with Barrios.
